The wonderful thing about project management is that most practictioners are happy to share their tools, templates, methods, and even failures (which is how we learn). Below are some local resources that you can use to find ways to improve your effectiveness as a Project Manager.

SC.GMIS is a statewide organization that is dedicated to the advancement of technology within State, County, and Municipal government. They offer at least three FREE project management workshops in Columbia every year (lots of free PDUs!). For a list of their upcoming classes and workshops, see SC.GMIS Schedule.

PMI Charleston is the local face of PMI Global. PMI Charleston holds monthly lunch meetings where you can meet other local project managers, learn more about project management from some of the best speakers in the business, and get a great lunch!

PM One is a local training provider that provides a variety of project management training courses and is South Carolina's largest host of PMP Prep classes.

In addition to the local resources, there are a vast number of web-based resources that you can use to improve your skills and tools! If you find others that you find useful, please send the URL to furlongd@musc.edu and we will review it and add it to this list if appropriate.

PMI is the global organization that created and manages the PMP (Project Management Professional) certification. They created the first PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) in 1984 and will release the fourth edition of this standard in January 2009.

Another great resource for project management white papers, templates, etc. Some areas may require membership, but a great deal of information is free. I have a membership if you need access to any documents....contact me.

Tom Heck owns this company and offers many free team building activities. This site is great because Tom has videos of him performing the activity with a group, and then he talks about the "lessons learned" that you and your group should take away from the exercise. It doesn't hurt that Tom is just a great guy to work with.

PMLG is one of the nation's most successful project management training providers. Bill Stewart, their founder and CEO, is considered one of the very early promoters of the PMO concept and is now considered among the top thought leaders on PMOs and project management. A great company to work with!